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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1996)
Tuesday, February 6, 1996 Page 4 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln J. Christopher Haiti Doug Kouma. Doug Peters. Sarah Scalet. Matt Waite. Michelle Garner... Jennifer Mapes.... .Editor, 472-1766 _Managing Editor ,. Opinion Page Editor Associate News Editor Associate News Editor .. Wire Editor .Columnist f Bret Gottschall/DN Free for all Bill to shake up phone, cable services Let the games begin. A promising shake-up of services is on the way for telephone, cable and long-distance customers. The changes should mean lower rates for phone and television services. But there’s more to this transformation than meets the eye. A telecommunications bill a decade in the making is awaiting final approval from President Clinton, and he has said he will sign it. The bill would create a free-for-all among telecommunications providers. Essentially, it means that customers will have a choice between phone and cable providers. Phone companies may soon be offering cable television service and cable companies may soon offer phone service. And both will probably offer Internet access. “We have broken up two of the biggest government monopolies left; the monopolies in local telephone service and in cable televi sion,” said the bill’s primary author in the House, Rep. Thomas Bliley Jr., R-Va„ the chairman of the Commerce Committee. But squished somewhere in the middle of the bill are provisions for Internet regulations — the beginning of governmental control over the now-unregulated frontier. Specifically, the bill outlaws the transmission of sexually explicit and other indecent materials to minors under 18 over computer net works. And there are questions about whether or not the bill bans dis cussion of abortion on the Internet. Congress approved the bill last week, and the Internet regula tions apparently were not a hotly debated issue. And that’s too bad. This bill does many good things. It creates competition where there has been little or none. It requires television makers to install a computer chip in new sets to let parents block shows labeled violent or sexually explicit. For the most part, this bill paints a bright future for the commu nications industry by offering the consumer more on-ramps to the information superhighway. But unfortunately, it also raises questions about the future of the Internet and how much government will be able to restrict users’ freedom. Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1996 Daily Ne braskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the imiversity, its employees, the stu dents or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent the opin ion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to super vise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for die editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. Letter policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit mate rial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should ran as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re turned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub lished. Letters should include the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Re quests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Party on I am writing to praise Bob Ray for his excellent article about the administration’s stand on campus partying. It is about time someone spoke out against the administration and its attempt to destroy the greek system. I am a member of a frater nity, and have seen the type of treatment we’ve received from the so-called Community Service Officers. I joined a fraternity to leam about brotherhood, make new friends and to have a good time. I discovered that living in a fraternity means allowing a toy cop to listen ai my door for female voices after 2 ajn., search through my garbage for beer cans and shine a flashlight through my window any time of the night. If students want to drink and party, they will find a place to do it. Like Bob said, the administration is forcing students to party off of campus property. All that does is increase the number of drunken students driving home from parties. Sometime in the future, a UNL student will be hurt or die in an accident because of drunken driving. It is terrible to think that someone will have to be hurt just so a minimum wage Community Service Officer can violate the constitutional rights of UNL students. Ben Yelkin freshman biological sciences Renters of the world, unite! A pox of corporate proportions is spreading its infection across the city of Lincoln. With the buyout of the Video Station, Blockbuster Video has increased the number of corporate rip-off establishments by five. Why do you rent from them? Is it because you have a major credit card and are able to get a member ship? Is it because you like being told that you have three days to return the video, when in most cases this is not true? Is it because you like renting a movie for three dollars plus tax regardless of how long it takes you to watch the movie? If you rent a movie on Friday at seven or eight in the evening, they tell you that you have three days to return them, but on the exit door it says “Movies due back by midnight Sunday.” Is this three days? No, of course not. Three days is 72 hours, the time span cited above is only 52 hours. Late fees also are applied with the same kind of thinking. You might only be a few hours late, but you are charged as if you had rented it for “three” more days. Would you rather be greeted by name when you walk in to rent movies? Would you like to have help offered to you if needed, instead of having to wait in line to be helped, only to wait in line again when the choice is made? Would you like to be able to rent movies of a sexual nature with your significant other? If you said yes to any of the above questions, walk into the Blue Giant, throw your card in their trash, and head to one of the locally owned and run mom and pop stores. James L. Chase sophomore physics UNL talent unrecognized I am a freshman Scarlet and Cream member and music minor at UNL. It often has been my concern that the Daily Nebraskan neglects what is going on at the music college. Every weekend, and often during Bret Gottschall/DN the week there are various kinds of performances in Kimball Recital Hall or Westbrook Music Building. It really angers me that all the time, heart and talent that is abundant in the music college is never recog nized by the DN. You have to give the fine arts department some credit — the practice rooms are filled and the talent is there, so let it be recognized! They deserve the credit! Jenni Novak freshman social science Hurry up and wait I’m writing in regards to UNL’s growing numbers of Internet accounts. Since the start of the semester, it has become increasingly difficult to log onto UNL’s modems. The university needs to add several modems to enable students to access their accounts. Currently during evening hours it takes dozens of attempts before you get anything but a busy signal. I’ve been using my Internet account extensively for more than two years now and have never run into this much difficulty. It’s great that the university offers free access now with bigred, but they need to back it up with more modems, now that so many students use the service. Chad Kudym junior geography